Rest and digest, even during emergencies

— Matt Palmer/Unsplash

January’s post has been hard to draft. Los Angeles is burning. Honestly, it’s hard to think of much else. I moved to Los Angeles in 2023 and began having fun as a Metropolitan Mennonite Man. It’s much less fun when whole chunks of cinema city are in cinders.

I live in an area that is safe from fire, but for days the air everywhere was unsafe. The smoke turned the daylight red from dawn to dusk. There is destruction, displacement, and despair. Families (including multiple families I worship with) have lost their homes. Neighborhoods are gone. It’s not an overstatement to say that they’re simply gone — poof. Memories, communities, legacies — poof.

Thankfully while “neighborhoods” are gone, neighbors are not. Churches and donation centers are full of supplies. Volunteers are on waitlists. There is hope. Hope and despair. And recovery will be shaped by both over a long period of time. Nothing will be built or repaired overnight. Between now and recovery there will be many birthdays, weddings, and  funerals. All with meals. We will share many meals together before this is “over.” We will share many meals in the midst of trauma.

A very simple way to think of trauma is as stress that is stuck. Our bodies and brains are tuned into things that require action. Signals like a threat to our safety, a threat to our family, a work or school deadline all create hormonal messages to prompt us to action. When our brain thinks we need a really big action, it creates a bigger hormone response pushing us into fight or flight. After we fight or flee, our bodies say, “Yup brain, got the message. Did the thing. Put us back at baseline.” After a fire, our bodies might not think we’ve done enough and might not send the message. The stress is stuck. This is the beginning of trauma.

“Fight or flight” can be used broadly to describe stress responses and how our minds shape our actions in stress. It’s like our whole system is shifted to focusing on the threat and our actions. But we are a lot more than responding to threats. We need to do things like eat and catch up with friends. We need to do things like “rest and digest.” Frankly, I don’t usually think to stop and eat in the middle of working on a big project. Our ability to eat and digest well, our ability to repair and fortify our social bonds rely on us being able to send our brain the signal “put us back at baseline.”

We do not have to complete every task imaginable before we rest. The sabbath tells us to do all we can during working days and guard time to rest. Even if we know we should set aside time to rest, that doesn’t make it easy, especially when we know the work won’t be done for years. Sometimes we have to convince our brains to rest.

The Exodus is a really traumatic series of events from beginning to end. But it does have several research-backed methods for getting our brains and bodies back into “rest and digest.” After crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 15),  we see singing, dancing and retelling the story. Singing requires some level of concentration and physicality. When done in groups, singing tells our unconscious mind that we are united and safe together. Dancing offers the same benefits, and with more physicality can help your body send the message that you’re safe. Both of these can bring the greatest ways to beat stress, and they unleash the power of joy.

Retelling the story works a bit differently. When stress is stuck and turns into trauma, it creates a story that your brain stores to remember what was threatening about the event. Sometimes we accidentally tell stories about leaving a pet, not renewing insurance, or not checking on a neighbor. When this happens our brain might get confused and “remember” that we were the threat. This can cause lifelong consequences like guilt, shame and depression. Retelling the story out loud gives us an opportunity to make sure we are telling the story that will help us move forward and not become stuck in trauma.

Moving, singing and remembering are powerful tools for shifting our gears into “rest and digest.” They are practices for maintaining our wellbeing and our communities while a new normal is being built. We are in a phase of emergency care.

In the coming weeks and months, it will be important to hold space — allowing people to grieve in the ways they will, even if it’s not cute. It will be important to show up. This will mean in solidarity, in friendship, in fellowship and for volunteer opportunities. The Los Angeles fires are our current emergency, but as with liturgical seasons, “we will always be here again.” Through each emergency, it will remain important to give help and aid — and it will be important to have humility when we are the ones who need aid.

person singing from a hymnal
Singing is one way to deal with stress and trauma. — David Beale/Unsplash

This month’s activity is to rest well. It is to intentionally move into “rest and digest.” After a stressful experience, sing, dance, or retell the story with someone you care about.

Sing: Sing anything you’d like, make sure you’re taking big breaths, and use that air to make some volume. If you have to choose between sounding pleasant and getting physical, choose physicality.

Dance: Dance any way you’d like. Rhythm isn’t necessary, but make sure to use all your limbs in some way and try to get your heart rate up at least a little.

Retell the story: Tell the story. Maybe a few times. Try to remember what was stressful. Did you learn anything? Did you learn anything about yourself? Is there anything you’d like to try differently in the future? Retell the story until it is a lesson that you value.

Author’s note: A special shoutout to Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute for training me in Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR), a trauma-informed care training developed by Eastern Mennonite University.

AJ Delgadillo

AJ spent his youth and early career around Goshen, Ind. He has cycled between social services and environmental education, striving Read More

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